Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Weight Loss Phase I: Completed!

I'm going to break this year's weightloss journey into four phases just like they do on ABC's Extreme Weightloss which is a show I've been enjoying. Each phase will be three months long and I will evaluate my successes, struggles, goals and progress.

These first three months have been good. I started my journey in late April to very early May, roughly a little over 3 1/2 months. In that time, I have lost 16 pounds but clean eating can really transform your body and so I think I look like I've lost more. I'm averaging about 4.5 pounds lost per month.

Phase I: Goals/Numbers

1900 calories per day

5000-7500 steps per day

1 1/2 pounds lost per week

Workout 4 times per week

Eat Clean 80% of the time, 20% cheat/lenient meals

Phase II: Goals/Numbers

1600 calories per day

10,000 steps per day

2 pounds lost per week

Workout 5 times per week, increase intensity

Eat Clean 85% of the time, 15% cheat meals

Weigh-in limited to once a week

Phase I Struggles

Consuming too much sugar

Consuming too much fat

Not having proper balance between Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats. Aim for 40/40/20

Not getting enough iron

Not eating enough veggies

Not getting consistent sleep, either too much or too little

Weighing myself daily

My struggles in Phase I have been more with food than working out. I have been really good about getting out there and walking 4-5 times per week. I've heard over and over that it's more about what you eat than about working out. Chips and pizza are my main areas of struggles. When I get a craving for chips, I try to by "cleaner" chips without a bunch of yucky ingredients and yes chips like that do exist, but my self control still doesn't! I actually know where I can get a small snack size bags of chips to satisfy a craving instead of buying a larger bag. The bags of chips in the checkout aisles have around 500-600 calories total. I use to eat one of those bags at a time and they have 4 servings in one bag. I'm much more careful about portion sizes now and it's made a big difference. My main goal for Phase II is to have a quicker shred of the pounds so that in Phase III I can really amp up my workouts to be more intense. My overall goal is to become an athlete again. I've started jogging now and I was shocked last night at how far I can jog now compared to three months ago.

I'm hoping this is helping others out there. Please comment and share, I'd love to hear your stories! Although I continue to write about beauty, I will also be writing about fitness, health, clean eating and my weightloss progress so be sure to follow me so you can track along with me on my journey! Thank you for your support. Let's help each other on our journey to health & wellness!